Artificial limb.



PETER FELTES, F CLEVELAND, OHIO.

ARTEFEICIAL LIME.

Specification of Letters atent.

Patented May 1, 91?.

Application filed January 12, 1917. Serial No, 141,919.

To if/,ZZ whom it may concern.

Be it known that l, Pn'inn Finmiis, a citizen oii the United States,residing at Cleveland, in the county of Cuyahoga and State ot Ohio, haveinvented certain new and useful improvements iu rtiiicial liimbs, ofwhich the tolloii'ing` is a specilication.

rlhis invention relates to artificial limbs, and has particularreference to the joints thereoi", especially the ankle joint. lt has forits principal object to dispense with the use. ot all springs, cords,and with as little elastic or similar material as possible, withontimpairing' the flexibility of tbc joints.

rThe ankle joint provides pivotal movement in the line of progression otthe wearer, as

well as lateral pivotal movement. and onel or both of these movementsmay be pre vented by a lockingf device, it required by local conditions.

.in the accompanying drawings- Fig'iire 1 is a side elevation of anarti- `Ficial legi. partly in section, showing; the knee and anklejoints.

Fig. :2 is a rear elevation or" the ankle joint. r

Fig. 3 is a side elevation thereof.

Fig. it is a section on the line 4 1 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 5 is a section on the line 55 of the same ligure.

' is a section on theiine 6-6 o' In the drawing' l 2 indicates the loweror calf section of the leg and 8 the foot, these members beingY heldtogether by the joint indicated as a whole at 4, and the elastic strips5 and li at iront and back. TheI foot has a removable cover or insteppiece 7, which may be removed to give access to the screws 8 by whichthe lower end of the stri p 6 is fastened to the foot. The foot has aleather vsolo piece 9 which covers the screws 11. by which the strip 5is attached at the heel, and this solo piece may be removed to `iveaccess to the screws 11 and to the bolts ll'and 2O which torni a part ofthe joint 4.

Said joint comprises a casing having tubular parts 12 and 1B arranged incross relation, the tube 13 extending cross-wise and the tube 12lengthwise of the joint. Mounted to turn in the upper tube 12 is a blockor bnshing 1.4 from which projects npwardly a bolt 15 by which the jointis secured to the leg' member, the not on the bolt being accessibleinside the leg; and the bushing' 1li permits lateral or sidewisemovement, as indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 2,

the limit ot this movement being determined by the stops 12 at the endof a slot 22 in which the bolt 15 swings. Gpenings 23 ere also providedto iighten theparts and permit lubrication.

rlhe lower member 1S of the joint casing has therein two bushings orturning blocks l? and 1S, at opposite ends thereof, and e pair of bolts19 and 2O are tapped into these blocks, and serve to connect the foot 3to the joint, and to permit direct flexion or move-v ment ot the toot,as indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 8, this movement being` limited bythe length of the slots 24 in which the bolts move.

The upper part of the tube 13 is provided with holes 25, in line withthe bolts 19 and Q0. ,liz it is desired to lock the joint to preventdirect movement of the foot, it may be done by screwing the bolts 19 and2() into the holes 25, so that Hexion on the cross axis is prevented. lna similar manner flexion on the other axis 4may be prevented byscrewing' the bolt 15 down into a similar hole 26 in the joint casing.AThese locking functions enable a riser to suit himself as to themovement desired.

li claim:

1. joint Jor artificial limbs, comprising a. casing' having two tubularmembers at an angle to each other, each. of said members having;` sloton one side thereof and a hole on the opposite side, a blockmounted totorn in each member, and a bolt extending through the slot and ea chblock and adapted to be shifted into the hole to lock the block.

2. Ii joint for artificial limbs or the like, comprising a casing*having two tubular parts at an angle to each other, a block mounted totorn in each tubular part, and a. connection secured to each blockadapted for attachment to a limb member` and means to lock each block tothe casing.

3. .A joint for artificial limbs, comprising a casing having tubularparts at an angle to In testimony hei-Cof, l dofax my signaeach other, ublock mounted to turn 1u one ture m presence of two wltnesses. of saidparts., and a pair of blocks mounted PE FP 1- w l x *L 4 to turn 1noppos1-te ends of th other of sind F J l L TLD parts, euch of sindblocks havlng a progect- 4 Yhtnesses: lng dence for connccuon to amember of the FRANK L. FELTES,

limb. JOHN A. BOMM LLARDT.

